Sibling Rivalry
by VampedVixen
Summary: Dawn tries to be just as good as Buffy, and it doesn't quite work out.


Sibling Rivalry By Vixen  
  
It had been a long night, full of vampire stakeage and trying to piece together the new developing mystery of the new demons pack who had been marauding around town. If Giles had still been living in Sunnydale, Buffy was sure he would have known what they were and how to stop them. As is, she felt powerless. As a Slayer, this was one of the feelings she hated the most. Though she'd been feeling it for a few years now, ever since her mother had died and Giles had taken off for his native homeland.  
  
Walking into the kitchen, Buffy rubbed sleep from her eyes. Luckily it was a Saturday, meaning no work. She could get plenty of rest, if that was even possible with the thoughts that had been plaguing her lately. Life as a Slayer had never been easy, but lately it was a real drag on her emotional state. That was just the price she had to pay, she assumed. Her sacrifice. Stupid sacrifice.  
  
With weary eyes she opened the refrigerator and surveyed its contents. Barely nothing edible. She'd have to go food shopping soon, how she hated doing that on her days off. It was just one more thing to add to her ever enlarging to-do list. Plus, it made her miss her mother. Grabbing the first pitcher of liquidy nourishment she found, Buffy closed the refrigerator door and started pouring it into a cup. It was some weird brown concoction Dawn had made, some energy drink or whatnot. As she watched it plop, rather than pour, into a tall plastic glass she sighed, "Slayers can't be choosers."  
  
It was an experiment in how much Buffy could torture her taste buds once she took the first sip. Spitting it out into the sink, she shook her head trying to clear the nasty aftertaste, "Blagh! Ewww.. Ewwwwwww.. God, what is in that?"  
  
"Carrots, broccoli, bananas, wheat germ, milk and a couple of packets of ProteinLife. All the high energy essentials," Dawn said as she came into the room. It was only eight o'clock but she was already dressed in her jogging pants and pink tank top. "Its supposed to be good for the body."  
  
"I somehow," Buffy winced in between drinking gulps of water, "doubt that." She looked at her sister quizzically, wondering how the girl could stand drinking it. "Why are you up so early on a Saturday? It is Saturday, right?" For a moment her mind began panicking, wondering if she was supposed to be doing the guidance counselor thing at the school that morning.  
  
"Relax, its Saturday." Dawn poured herself a glass of the same brown substance. When she took a mouthful of it, Buffy tried not to retch. "I'm just gym bound. Gonna hit the cycles, master the Stairmaster, do some miles on the treadmill. I'll be back at two o'clock."  
  
She started to leave but Buffy called out from behind her, "Two o'clock? Don't you think you're overdoing it?"  
  
A deep 'I'm-Not-a-Kid' type frown creased her lips when Dawn turned back around, "I can handle it."  
  
Perspiration poured off her face as Dawn tried to keep pace with the treadmill. She'd been at the gym for two and a half hours now. Her muscles were aching for a break, but that wouldn't stop her. If only she kept going, she'd be fit, and trim, and just as good as any old slayer. As she thought of her sister, with all her perfect slayer powers, she quickened her pace. Buffy had been training her out in the graveyard since the summer. After the encounter with Dark Willow, Buffy just seemed to trust her more, which Dawn had to admit was kind of cool. For so many years she had stood by, idly watching as her sister received all the attention. She was the Slayer, the one girl.. Well, until there were more girls. Dawn would have snickered if she could have found the breath to do so. Her sister thought she was so great, and then Kendra had shown up, and Faith.  
  
Still, despite how those other slayers had shown Buffy that she wasn't the only one, Dawn could never achieve their power. Buffy's power. She was just a girl, who used to be a key, and was now training but getting no where in her ability to take out the vamps. As she ran she imagined if she had inherited that power. She was sure that she would sacrifice anything to be the one, the special chosen one. Being a key was nothing compared to the ability to walk tall and take care of yourself, throw a few punches here, a kick or two there, and totally kick any vampire's ass.  
  
She looked down at the speedometer, when it said she was only going about five miles an hour she blinked. That couldn't be right, not with the way her heart was beating in her chest. It felt like it was going to explode any moment. At least she lived on a Hellmouth where that kind of thing wouldn't be noticed much.  
  
Pressing a few buttons on the machine, Dawn turned up the speed till she was running ten miles an hour. She gripped the bars of the treadmill, trying to keep going at that pace. Lying to herself, she inwardly shrugged, 'This is nothing. I can do this'.  
  
Closing her eyes, she grimaced as her body began aching, but she wouldn't turn the speed down. She was going to be strong like her sister if it killed her. She imagined herself running after a vampire, through the night with wind blowing through the trees. Lost in her daydream, she didn't notice when her hands fumbled off the bar on the treadmill. Letting go, she tumbled backwards on the machine, finally landing with a loud thud as her head hit the mirrored wall behind her. As she began to blackout, she heard a few people around the room talking in worried tones, but the sound melted away as her mind went blank.  
  
When Dawn awoke the first thing she noticed was her headache. It was not just a headache, it was the mother of all headaches come to reek its doom upon the unsuspecting world. Touching the back of her head gingerly, she found that a large bump had formed. It was most likely going to hurt for a long time. She looked around herself, and noticed she was lying in a hospital bed with a few machines making funny beeping noises all around her. This wasn't good. This was decidedly ungood.  
  
Pulling herself slowing into a sitting position on the bed, she saw Willow and Xander sitting in the provided chairs by the foot of the bed. They looked worried. Though Buffy, who was walking over towards her looked worse. Her sister had worry lines around the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breath, most likely trying to decide whether to yell or comfort, "What the hell were you trying to do, Dawn?"  
  
"I'm sorry?" Dawn found it strange that her mouth could barely form the words, it was dry and felt like it was full of cotton.  
  
"You're sorry? You get a concussion by doing something stupid, I now have to find a way to pay all the hospital bills, you're going to have to be out of school for a week which will bring down your grades which haven't been all that stellar anyway.. And you're sorry?" Buffy stopped herself, pausing and gathering herself, "I was worried about you. You've been out cold for two days now. You want to get in shape, than do it the safe way. Not like this."  
  
Dawn wanted to tell her that it wasn't about getting in shape, but that she just wanted to be like her sister, strong and in charge, but it was nearly impossible to voice that wish. It seemed stupid now. She'd never be like her, she'd never be a slayer.  
  
"Visiting Hours are ending in five minutes. All visitors must now exit the building," The loudspeaker rang out above them. Buffy took one last troubled look at Dawn, but then smiled and said her goodbyes. Xander and Willow said they'd be by again tomorrow to see if the doctors would let her out. Dawn tentatively waved, feeling all the more guilty for disturbing them. There was so much going on in the demon world at the moment that they needed to take care of, and there she was making another nuisance. She was nothing more than another problem for them, even though she wanted to be anything but.  
  
She spent the next few hours thinking, which with the size of her headache was quite a challenge. When Angel lived in Sunnydale she had always complained he was weird because he brooded too much, but now she was finding comfort in an all-night broodathon herself.  
  
Lost in thoughts, she barely noticed when Spike entered her room, "Hey, nibblet."  
  
She sat up gently, "Isn't it past visiting hours, Spike?"  
  
"Visiting hours end at eight, sun doesn't go down till 8:33. Couldn't be helped." He shrugged and pulled up one of the chairs. Dawn smiled, that was Spike, always screwing with the rules. "How you feeling, bit?"  
  
"Stupid," She said without putting a filter on her feelings. If there was one person she could be truthful with and who wouldn't treat her like a kid, it was the vampire, odd as that may be.  
  
"Well, yeah, should I guess." Spike leveled with her, "What exactly were you doing that caused all this? Buffy said something about hitting the gym and getting hit by a mirror."  
  
"Those wacky mirrors, always preying on the unsuspecting. They just jump out at you from nowhere." She tried to joke her way around the question, but once Spike narrowed his eyes at her she started telling him the real story. "I wanted to be like Buffy so I pushed the speed up on the machine up a wee bit too far. It was an accid--" Halfway through her story, she stopped and gapped as Spike began chuckling loudly. She crossed her arms and pouted, "What's so funny?"  
  
"You wanting to be like the Slayer," He looked at her, she didn't even understand how lucky she was just to be herself, how much he loved her for simply being her. She still looked annoyed, so he explained, "Don't get it, do you? You don't have to be a slayer, just have to be Dawn. My nibblet. That's enough for me at least." He paused when he saw her smile at him, and then in a lighter tone joked, "Besides, have you noticed that most slayers are bleedin' insane. Two slayers in my life," Spike shuddered at the thought, "Be enough to drive me over the bend.. Again." 


End file.
